Don’t Be Surprised When Your Passions Evolve

Now, I’m not going to talk about how to find your passion, because that’s another subject altogether. Today, I’m talking about the one thing you need to know about your passions:

Passions Evolve

They will. Everything in this world changes with time, and your passions hold no exceptions. Knowing this is key to your happiness and success, because now you can adapt and  be confident in your choices and lifestyle as you pursue your evolving passions.

Now I write here from my own experiences.

I attended college to pursue my strongest passion—baseball. It was something I was good at. It came naturally, and it had been a huge part of my life since the age of 5. And my senior year of high school, my passion was playing baseball.

At the time, I was committed to a California university where playing baseball was not a guarantee. But weeks before graduation, Hastings College offered me a chance to join their college baseball team. I took the opportunity, changed my plans and went to Hastings.

And life was exciting. College baseball was difficult; it was rewarding; it gave me a purpose.

 

 

After graduating college and returning to San Diego, I joined a Saturday Men’s League so I could keep playing. But something strange had happened.

Playing no longer satisfied me the way it had before.

My passion evolved. But how?

I didn’t know. And for a while, my love for baseball took a back seat. My career became my priority; experiencing nightlife after work became another priority.

And as time went on, my happiness started to slip away. Life became a series of events. There was no spark bright enough to bring lasting enthusiasm to my world. I had a hole that needed filling.

After traveling for 4 months, something clicked, and my real life passions came flooding back into my life. Discovering new things. Living and sharing new experiences. And, of course, the old forgotten friend—baseball.

I drew the conclusion that my passions needed to be my priority. So, upon my return from South America, I set out to answer the question:

How has my passion evolved?

To find the answer, I immersed myself in baseball at every level. I contacted baseball organizations all across the United States, and dove deeper into my passion than I ever had before. I drove from San Diego across the United States, visiting over 20 professional baseball clubs in person.

In just over a month, I snagged an office job for a professional baseball team and a sabermetrics company. I discovered so much. I saw the nuances and crevices of the sport that I couldn’t see before. And after diving so deep, I realized how my passion had evolved.

Right now, at this very moment, while you’re reading this, I love baseball as a fan and a critic. My passion for baseball extends to sharing the game with others. I fulfill this by writing articles here on my website, attending baseball conferences, tweeting out baseball news, and putting together an alumni game at my high school every year.

 

Now, your passions may not be baseball or sharing or traveling, but they could be camping, public speaking, putting yourself in unknown situations, writing, Pokémon, or collecting coins.

Maybe your life has become dull. Maybe you’re making excuses and not putting your passions first in your life. Maybe your passions have evolved and grown and require more from you. If that’s the case, pursue with zero hesitation!

Make your passions priority number one. If you do this, you’ll have a beautiful life filled to the brim with excitement and possibility.

And Take Note:

I do not work for a baseball team anymore, and I don’t work for the sabermetrics company. My passion for baseball doesn’t extend to those areas. When you’re following your passion, you might pursue it into areas you don’t enjoy. But that’s A-OK! Hold your likes and dislikes in high regard. And follow them.

Passions evolve, and you should find out how far your passions will reach. You will never regret pursing the things you love, as they evolve. (I haven’t, and these other people haven’t either.)

Your life will twist in a direction you can’t predict—but you will be alive, you will have amazing experiences and you will have a purpose.

 

Sonny Hughey – Energetic, living in new experiences, attracting others and sharing success. Sonny holds a degree in Physics, captained his collegiate baseball team to a Conference Championship, has touched down in 3 continents, 11 countries, and 40 of the 50 states. He owns his own business ShoobyUSA and works as a Test Engineer for MTS Systems. Sonny is 25 years old.